There's no new grocery store in place yet in the former Woolworth building in downtown Reno, but a small bowling alley could open by fall.

The six-lane alley will be part of what owner/developer Jamy Keshmiri envisions as "The Shelter," a combined bowling alley/restaurant/sports bar in the basement of the seven-story building he acquired last year at the northwest corner of First and Virginia streets.

"I've got the lanes in the building. It will take about a month to put them in," Keshmiri said today. "We have a target opening date of early October."

"It's a 'boutique' bowling alley. It fills a niche," he said, citing the fact that the 78-lane National Bowling Stadium four blocks to the north does not allow walk-in business, leaving a void in the downtown area.

The bowling stadium, built two decades ago and owned and operated by the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, allows only group bookings for bowling, said spokesman Ben McDonald.

"So, technically, the public can bowl there, but they have to book the space as a group function," he said.

As for the ground floor of the long-closed Woolworth building once owned by hotelier Charles Mapes, Keshmiri said he still has plans for a 15,000-square-foot grocery-type retail presence which he first announced last September.

It's needed, he said, given the downtown core's several condominium complexes that have been developed in recent years. The last truly downtown supermarket was Mayfair, which was closed in the early 1990s to make way for the Silver Legacy Resort Casino.

A downtown store would be within walking distance for condo residents, Keshmiri said, but so far, he's had no takers.

"The offer is still open if someone's willing to step forward," he said of potential grocers.